The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) is pleased to announce that a range of virtual training and development events are available for academic and research staff to book including five scheduled to take place in October:

Demand management for research schemes and relationships with external stakeholders – 04 October 2021, 10-11am

Who owns what and why: navigating intellectual property – 07 October 2021, 10-11am

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships – getting funding and impact – 13 October 2021, 11am-12pm

Introduction to Knowledge Exchange: External Relationships & Funding Opportunities – 20 October 2021, 11am-12pm

Please see https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduate-researcher-college/academic-and-research-staff/training-and-development/grants-factory-training for further information about these sessions and links to book your place.

Balancing the conflicting demands of academia in COVID and beyond (‘ECRN’ event) – 13 October 2021, 2-3pm

(The GRC is also offering 1:1 Coaching for PDRAs, RAs and Research Associates – 14 October, 04 November, 07 and 08 December – 3 slots each day.)

Please see https://www.kent.ac.uk/graduate-researcher-college/academic-and-research-staff/training-and-development/grc-training for further information about these sessions and links to book your place.

Registration for these sessions is via Target Connect, the GRC event booking system, but please note that you will need to register for an account on Target Connect using your Kent email address before you can book any of these events.

These sessions are organised by the GRC as part of its new remit to support the development of colleagues who research throughout their careers and further information is available on our web pages for academic and research staff.

Professor Paul Allain, Dean of the Graduate and Researcher College, said:

“Our training, development and support sessions for 2021-22 will guide and inspire you on your career journey. You can either join a live session delivered by specialist academic and Professional Services staff from Research and Innovation Services, IS Research Support, the GRC and the Divisions, or catch up with a recording at a time to suit you. So there’s no excuse not to participate!”

Please note that most but not all sessions will be recorded and made available to view after the event.

If you would like to suggest future sessions or to discuss researcher development at Kent, please contact the GRC.

We look forward to seeing you at these and future events.

The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) and the Researcher Development Advisory Group (RDAG) are seeking your feedback on the University’s continued efforts to support the development of its researchers as part of the eight-year HRER external review process.

The European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award (HRER) encourages and recognises best practice in researcher development and support, and Kent first attained this prestigious award in May 2013.

The University is committed to supporting all academic and research staff in their career and personal development, and recently published its Action Plan to implement the Principles of the Researcher Development Concordat. This document is now being expanded to include actions carried forward from the 2017-21 HRER Action Plan and will be submitted as the HRER forwards-looking plan in November 2021, together with an updated backwards-looking plan summarising progress made and an accompanying report.

Dr Alison Charles, Researcher Developer (Academic), said:

“Feedback from academic and research colleagues will be key to creating an accurate, realistic and inclusive HRER submission. I encourage you to share your views on our progress to implement actions listed in the current action plan, as well as on any aspect of our expanded efforts to support researcher development at Kent. All feedback will be anonymised. Do please spare five minutes to tell us what you think.”

How to give us feedback?

Please submit your feedback anonymously via our HRER feedback form, available until 23.59 on 07 November 2021.

Alternatively, please contact the RDAG Secretary or speak to a member of RDAG.

Any queries, please contact the GRC. We look forward to receiving your feedback and thank you for engaging in the HRER review process.